Mitchell, Abbas discuss final-status issues

Published May 19th, 2010 - 12:47 GMT

The US envoy to the region and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas discussed possible outlines of a future Palestinian state.

The US envoy to the region and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas discussed possible outlines of a future Palestinian state on Wednesday, a Palestinian official said. "We are focusing on final-status issues like borders and security," Saeb Erekat was quoted as saying by Reuters after the meeting between Mahmoud Abbas and George Mitchell.

"We hope that in the next four months we can achieve the two-state solution on the 1967 borders," added Erekat.

Mitchell will shuttle between Israel and the West Bank for the second round of talks since the Palestinians agreed to the so-called proximity talks which were launched on May 9. The American official met Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak on Tuesday and planned to hold talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after his Ramallah visit.